The present invention relates as indicated to a carpenter square provided with holding means for a tape measure.
It is frequently necessary when using a carpenter square to use along with such square a tape measure or other measuring device for accurately measuring the location of cuts to be made in the material, normally wood. Even when working at ground level, the simultaneous or sequential manipulation of the tape measure and square presents some difficulties, and these difficulties are greatly magnified when the user is positioned above the ground, for example, on a semi-completed building structure, for laying out rafters.
It is therefore highly desirable to combine the square and tape measure into a single working device so that the measured distances can be marked prior to cutting, without necessitating the separate use of the square and tape measure. An example in the prior art of a combined square and tape measure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,571,569 to W. Greenwood, with the square comprising an opening on one side thereof which can frictionally receive the tape measure when lying flat. To use the tape, it is moved so as to be perpendicular to the plane of the square, in which position the end of the tape can be extended longitudinally relative to the side of the square on which it is mounted.
A similar combined square and tape measure was developed by applicant, with the square being provided with a separate compartment into which the tape measure could be placed on end for extending the tape relative to the square to obtain properly marked measurements.
In both applicant's prior device and that of Greenwood there were significant disadvantages. Perhaps the foremost was the inability to accommodate tape measures of various sizes and shapes. Tapes vary significantly in the width dimension, and the inability to satisfactorily accommodate tapes of varying width is a decided disadvantage. Moreover, in the Greenwood device, the opening provided in the leg of the square is particularly adapted to only a particular size tape, thereby rendering the square totally useless for tapes either larger or smaller than such opening.